Phillips on FSU, Clemson speaking out
By: Staff Report July 25, 2023

CHARLOTTE — ACC revenue distribution was one of the big topics that ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips discussed during the Commissioner’s Forum on Tuesday morning as the 2023 ACC Football Kickoff got underway.

Phillips was specifically asked about schools like Clemson and Florida State that have spoken out publicly about being unhappy with the revenue gap, and how the ACC can keep those schools committed while trying to bridge what could at some point be around a $40 million gap annually between ACC schools and other conferences.

“I think that’s the right approach to make it. Instead of trying to get a number, trying to bridge it as far as you can. How you get it done? You work collaboratively. That’s what we’ve done,” Phillips said.

“Those two institutions have been terrific to work with. I mean, they have great leadership. (FSU president) Rick McCullough is a wonderful guy. (Clemson president) Jim Clements is a wonderful guy. They love sports and their institutions, and I know they also love the ACC and are trying to figure a way through.”

Phillips added that the board has been meeting weekly and that the ACC has been working with ESPN in an effort to bring in more revenue.

“After the spring, if we wouldn’t have had any discussions or we wouldn’t have come out with a success incentive initiative program, I may have felt differently, but the regularity of which the board is meeting now and the regularity of our ADs meeting, et cetera, and how good ESPN has been, they understand the volatility that there is, but they also are looking to grow financially based on some of their recent events,” Phillips said.

“So you have a lot of mutually beneficial outcomes in this thing, so staying together, working collaboratively, working strategically, and we have some other things that we’re working on I can’t address with this group right now, that are pretty exciting to try to address that revenue gap.”

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